Cirrus@Austlit

'What made them do it? What were they thinking? Was it nature or nurture, that is, were they born evil or were they the products of their environment? And why are we so fascinated with crime?

'Journalists Helen Goltz and Chris Adams have been spoilt for choice selecting stories for the fifth Grave Tales book and the first Grave Tales: True Crime volume.

'As our nation developed, the bush prospered and the cities grew, these were some of the terrible crimes that took away our innocence, crimes destined never to be solved that live on in our history… crimes that confound us with their cruelty, stagger us with their brilliance and amaze us with their sheer audacity.

'Grave Tales: True Crime Vol. 1 features those people who were often unwilling participants in the events that would make local and national headlines at the time.'

(Source: publisher's blurb)